The recently released Mortal Kombat 2 may have debuted several fan-favorite characters, including Johnny Cage and Kitana, but the movie came very close to featuring a popular villainous fighter. In a recent interview, film writer Jeremy Slater revealed that he initially wanted Tremor to be a part of the Mortal Kombat sequel, but ultimately decided against including the character in favor of another fighter.
Jeremy Slater explains why Tremor was cut from Mortal Kombat 2
While speaking with GamesRadar+, the Moon Knight creator disclosed that he originally wanted Tremor to face off against Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) in one of the film’s very first fights.
“We almost had Tremor in the movie at one point for the Sonya fight, just because I’ve always liked Tremor and he’s got really fun, really cool powers,” Slater remarked, confirming that the geokinetic ninja would’ve perished spectacularly following the bout.
Nevertheless, Slater eventually chose to replace the Earth Elemental with Queen Sindel, played by Ana Thu Nguyen, in order to make the movie’s plot more impactful. “We realized we had Sindel already on the table, and she wasn’t being used in an exciting enough way. So, it was one of those smack my own forehead moments of like, Tremor wasn’t working because I wasn’t able to devote enough time to sort of sell him as a character,” he explained.
At the end, the modification seems to have worked for Slater, who expressed satisfaction about dropping Tremor in Mortal Kombat 2. “Once we swapped [Tremor] out [for] Sindel, it immediately became more visceral, and there’s just more skin in the game. And Sindel’s powers were so much fun that it felt like she belonged in that pit of spikes in a way that never felt right with Tremor,” the veteran Hollywood producer exclaimed.
Having premiered nationwide on May 8, Mortal Kombat 2 appears to have had an underwhelming opening at the box office, falling short of its expectations in the international market.
